Waiting
by Vinsmouse
Summary: One moment of carelessness could change their lives forever.


Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard, not making any money, just cheap thrills.

Warnings: Angst

Rating: FRT

Italics and/or indicates thoughts

A/N: I'd like to thank HazzardHusker for her help as beta reader.

Summary: One moment of carelessness could change their lives forever.

Waiting

"Are you sure?" He asked, his face paler than she had ever seen it before.

"No I'm not sure," she replied. "I only know that I'm late and we were careless that one time."

He bit his lip, not wanting to be reminded of how stupid he'd been that day. He knew better than to be reckless when it came to that. There was just something magical about that day, the air was so crisp and clean, the sun lighting her hair like a halo, the nearby river rippling over the rocks. When he touched her skin with his hands, it was like a bolt of electricity shot through him, straight to the center of his being. She had felt it too, and the next thing he knew they were tearing at each other's clothes, desperate to feel their skin touching...

"Are you listening to me?" Lisa demanded, her hands on her hips as she stared up at him.

"Yeah, we need to get a test..."

"You weren't listening!" the accusation flew from her mouth, her green eyes flashing fire at him. "I already have the test. I want to know if you'll be there when I take it?" The fire in her eyes faded and her voice took on the quality of a scared child as she asked.

Swallowing his own fear, his instinct to protect her giving him the strength he needed. "Of course I will darlin," he assured her, wrapping his arms around the slim waist and pulling her to him. "When do you want to do it?"

"Well, the instructions say it's best if it's done first thing in the morning. I just can't figure out how we're gonna manage that. I don't think I can talk daddy into letting you spend the night," she said with a giggle that quickly dissolved into a sob.

"No, I guess not," he agreed, running one hand soothingly through her auburn hair. "What if you was to say you were going up to Atlanta for the night with a girlfriend? Then we could get a room and take the test the next morning."

"That might work, you want to do it tonight?"

"I guess it'd be best if we were to find out as soon as possible, wouldn't it?" he hesitantly asked, afraid that he would upset her with the question.

"Yeah, okay well I'll go home then and we can meet at...um, Hazzard pond?"

"Sounds good to me, what time?"

"Seven o'clock?"

"Seven it is, and Lisa don't worry, it'll be alright no matter what the test shows."

"Okay," she said, offering no argument but not really agreeing either.

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His first stop when he left her was Cooter's. Telling his friend as little as possible, he was able to arrange a cover story for his family and Boss Hogg. His second stop had been the county commissioneer's office to get a travel permit so he could go to Atlanta. After a small amount of shucking 'n' jiving, he was able to secure the necessary paper, and he left the office. His final stop would be the hardest.

Pulling into the yard, he climbed from the General and headed inside. "Uncle Jesse," he called as he came in the back door.

"In here," his uncle answered from the living room.

"Hey, um, Uncle Jesse I got to go to Atlanta to get some parts for Cooter. I'm probably gonna have to spend the night," he explained, hoping his uncle would buy it.

"Parts? Well can't it wait until tommorrow?"

"No sir, see he needs 'em for a car he's fixing and he needs them as soon as he can get 'em. The guy in Atlanta ain't sure if they'll be on the truck tonight or in the morning. So I'm gonna go up there today and if they don't come in tonight, I'll spend the night and pick them up first thing. You ain't got to worry about the cost of the room, Cooter's gonna pay for that since I'm making the trip for him."

"What about your probation?"

"That's taken care of too, already got permission from Boss," he replied.

"Alright, well you drive carefully then. You gonna be here for supper?"

"Yes sir, I won't be leaving until around seven. The guy told Cooter the truck wouldn't be in until nine and they close at ten, so I figured there ain't no point getting there any earlier than the truck," he nervously explained, hating the fact that he had to lie to his uncle like this. It didn't seem like a good way to start out on what could be a future with Lisa and their child. _My child? Wow, that doesn't seem hardly possible. I wonder what he'll look like? Will he have my eyes? Will she have her mama's hair, Lisa's hair is so beautiful in the sunlight. _The sound of his uncle's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Well, I suppose it'll be okay. You just make sure all your chores are done before you leave," Uncle Jesse ordered.

"Yes sir," he replied.

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_He stood next to Lisa in the delivery room, holding her hand and coaching her through the contractions. Finally, their little girl arrived, screaming at the top of her lungs, her displeasure at being taken from her warm cocoon there for all to hear. "Ya hear that darlin? That's our little girl, aw Lisa she's beautiful, just like her mama," he reverently whispered, as he watched the nurses cleaning the baby up, before wrapping her in a blanket and handing her to Lisa._

_"Our baby," Lisa replied, sounding tired and awed. "Elizabeth Anne Duke, for our mothers," Lisa told him, surprising him and bringing tears to his eyes._

_"Thank you darlin, it's a beautiful name," he said, leaning down for a gentle kiss._

_One year old Beth Anne grabbed onto the coffee table and pulled herself to her feet while her parents watched. Squatting down, he held out his hands and called to her, "Come to daddy Beth, you can do it baby." Staring at him, she stood there holding onto the table, refusing to let go. Then in a moment that would be forever etched on his heart and mind, she let go and took a couple of toddling steps towards him, before dropping back to the floor and crawling the rest of the distance. "You did it Bethy, I knew ya could," he cried out. Scooping her up in his strong arms, he twirled her around the room in a victory dance._

_He wasn't sure which of them was more nervous about this milestone in Beth's life. He knew she had to do this, but it was so hard to watch his little girl getting in line with all the other kindergarteners and going off to her first day of school. She looked so small standing among the other children. Surely some of them must be older than five, they were so large. Next to him Lisa had her arm around him, bravely fighting back the tears as she watched her baby going off into the world alone for the first time. Unconsciously she dropped her hand to the swell of her belly, where their second child lay. "She'll be okay darlin," he assured his pregnant wife._

_"Of course she will, she's a Duke after all," Lisa agreed with a small smile._

_Sixteen candles on the birthday cake, he looked at them, counting them again. Where had the years gone, it had only been yesterday that he held Beth in his arms for the first time. Now look at her, auburn hair like her mother's with his blue eyes, nearly the same shade in fact. She was a beauty, destined to break more hearts than her Aunt Daisy had ever done. Standing among her friends, she shone like a butterfly amid moths. _

_"Time flies doesn't it?" Lisa asked, coming up beside him and wrapping an arm around his waist._

_"It sure does," he agreed, bending down he brushed a kiss into her hair._

_"Are you sorry?" She asked, the same question that would leave her lips every time another birthday or anniversary would roll around._

_"Never, I love you Lisa and I love our kids. We might not have planned it, but we've had a good life and I wouldn't give up a moment of it." Turning towards her as he spoke, he wrapped both arms around her and puncuated his declaration with a passionate kiss. The ringing of the telephone broke them apart, and he reached to answer it._

"Hello," he sleepily answered.

"This is your wake-up call sir," the cheerful voice on the other end said.

"Uh, thank you," he said. Hanging up the phone, he scrubbed a hand down his face and sat up. Turning around, he looked at Lisa and gave her a small smile. "Good morning darlin."

"Morning," she replied. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself for the most terrifying thing she'd ever faced. "Guess it's time," she mumbled, as she started to throw back the covers.

"Lisa," he said, laying one hand on her arm, stopping her movements. "I want you to know that I care about you a lot and no matter what the results, I ain't going anywhere."

"Thanks," she said. Shrugging off his touch, she climbed from the bed and went to the bathroom, taking the pregnancy test with her. A moment later she came out of the small room.

"Well?" he asked, trying to hide his nervousness and only partly succeeding.

"We have to wait," she replied.

"Wait? Well how long?"

"Three minutes, and then we'll know for sure."

"How will ya know?" He asked, just realizing that he didn't even know how the test worked.

"One pink line is no, two pink lines means yes," she answered.

The next three minutes were the longest the two young people had ever spent. Neither of them spoke another word. They simply sat, watching the seconds tick slowly past on his watch. In three minutes they would know if their lives would be forever changed, or if they would simply continue on as they had been. Finally the three minutes were up and she walked back into the other room, this time with him by her side.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to look down at the test strip. Letting out the breath she hadn't known she was holding, she turned to him. "One line! That's all there is Luke, only one line. I'm not pregnant, thank God!" Not noticing the hurt look on his face, she hurried out of the room. "I know you're relieved too and you've been great about this whole thing. I don't know what I would've done without you here, it's more than a lot of men would've done," she told him, as she threw on her clothes and ran a brush through her hair.

"Sure, it wasn't any problem," he said. He watched her in a daze, surprised to find that he wasn't so sure that relief was what he was feeling.

"Well I had a great time with ya Luke, see ya around," she breezily said. Giving him a quick kiss on the lips, she hurried outside to her own car and drove away without a backward glance.

Luke stood in the doorway of the bathroom, staring at the exit and wondering what had just happened. How could she just walk out like that? Was she in that much of a hurry to be rid of him? Was the relief she felt because she wasn't pregnant, or because she wasn't tied to him? The ironic part was that before his dream, he knew he would've been just as relieved as Lisa. The dream had been so real though, it had felt like he'd really lived that life with Lisa and their children. A part of him was disappointed, saddened even at the loss of that love and beauty. After standing there for who knew how long, he moved to the bed and picked up his own clothes from the chair. Quickly dressing, he left the room and went to the office to check out. Driving back to Hazzard, he went by Cooter's first and told his friend the news.

Arriving back at the farm just in time for breakfast, Luke never even thought about the time. Walking into the kitchen, he sat down at the table, and folded his hands in prayer.

"You're back aw..." Bo began, only to be cut off in mid-word.

"Bo, you better get finished so you can take that load of hay over to Mr. Tompkins," Jesse instructed. Giving his youngest a pointed look, he was relieved when the younger man took the hint and went back to his breakfast.

"Luke, could I talk to you for a minute, outside?" Jesse asked when breakfast was over.

"Sure Uncle Jesse," Luke agreed.

Walking outside, Jesse sat down at the picnic table and motioned for Luke to join him. "Is there gonna be a wedding?" Jesse asked, catching his nephew off guard.

"Wedding? What are ya talking about Uncle Jesse?"

"I'm talking about you not taking the proper precautions and getting a girl in the family way," Jesse replied.

"No, she's not pregnant," Luke told him, surprised that his uncle knew and oddly relieved. "Uncle Jesse, how did you know?"

"You think you're the first youngin to make a mistake?"

"Well no, but..."

"Your daddy," Jesse answered Luke's earlier question. "I remember when Elizabeth was carrying you, he acted just like you did."

"Uncle Jesse, are you saying my folks had to get married?" Luke asked, not sure how he felt about that idea.

"Well it ain't nothin' to get upset over Luke. They wasn't the first couple to put the cart before the horse, and they won't be the last. Now don't you get the wrong idea boy, your mama and daddy loved each other and they loved you. You might not have been planned for, but that don't mean ya weren't wanted. Them two would've gotten married even if she hadn't gotten in the family way, you just sped things up a bit, that's all."

"Thanks Uncle Jesse," Luke softly said, touched by his uncle's words. He couldn't help being relieved, for a moment he had been afraid that his birth had somehow ruined their lives. "Well Lisa and me ain't ever gonna be getting married, so it's a good thing she ain't having a baby. Don't worry none either Uncle Jesse, I learned my lesson, I won't ever be careless like that again."

"I'm glad to hear that boy, but are you sure that you and Lisa...?"

"I'm sure," Luke firmly said. "As soon as she knew she wasn't pregnant, she couldn't get dressed fast enough. Said she'd had fun and would see me around," Luke told him, sounding slightly hurt.

"I'm sorry she was like that Luke, but I guess if that's how she feels it's a good thing she's not with child. Just goes to prove that God looks out for fools and children," he gruffly said, the smile on his face contradicting his gruff tone.

"Sure does, but this is one fool who learned his lesson well." Pushing himself to his feet, Luke stood up, "Well guess I'll get to my chores." Walking away from his uncle, he headed for the barn. As he worked, the dream he'd had began to fade and he felt relief taking the place of the disappointment. When Bo joined him in the barn a little while later, he was feeling more like himself. Soon he was smiling as his cousin talked about the new waitress at the Boar's Nest, betting him a beer that he'd get a date with her before Luke. Luke just smiled at his baby cousin, nodding his head in agreement before heading inside to get cleaned up. After all, he had a bet to win.

The End

A/N: The inspiration for the story was the song; Waiting on two pink lines. I was driving with my daughter last night, when that song came on the radio. As I listened I told my daughter. "You know, there's a Dukes story in that song." The more I thought about it, the more I realized the song really does fit the boys and I could easily see either of them in this situation. Hope you liked the story, please review and let me know.


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